Nine
1062 Words
The fire had burned down to glowing embers, and the night felt almost…fragile.
The wind had softened, carrying only the faint scent of pine and cold stone.
Selena lay on her side, half-drifting in that strange space between waking and sleep, the blanket warm around her shoulders. Across the fire, Nali sat motionless, gaze fixed on the darkness beyond. He hadn’t moved for what felt like hours.
She was just beginning to let her eyes close when his head lifted with a sharp, sudden, like a predator scenting blood.
“Up,” he said, voice low.
Something in his tone cut through her drowsiness instantly. She pushed herself upright, heart picking up. “What—?”
“Now.”
Before she could argue, he was at her side, hauling her to her feet. His hand wrapped around her wrist, not tight enough to hurt, but firm enough that there was no mistaking the command in it.
The woods around them were quiet. Too quiet. No rustle of small animals, no whisper of shifting leaves. Just the wind and something heavier beneath it.
Her skin prickled. “What is it?”
“Assassins,” he said, as if the word were no more alarming than rain. “Two, maybe three. Close.”
Her breath caught. “They... how do you know?”
He gave her a single glance, and she remembered the way he could track her heartbeat through a forest, how he could follow her scent like smoke. He didn’t need to explain.
He started moving, pulling her with him, steps light despite his size. She stumbled at first, trying to match his pace, the forest floor uneven beneath her boots. The night air bit at her cheeks, but his grip didn’t falter. Then, behind them, a twig snapped.
Her heart lurched. She looked over her shoulder, but the darkness swallowed everything.
“Don’t,” Nali murmured, never slowing. “Keep your eyes ahead.”
They wove through the trees, avoiding open paths, his movements so precise it was like he knew the forest’s map by heart. She tried to focus on the rhythm of her steps, the crunch of leaves underfoot but every few seconds she swore she heard something behind them. A whisper of cloth. The faint click of metal.
“How far—?” she began, but didn’t get to finish.
A sudden hiss cut through the night. An arrow sliced past her cheek, so close she felt the air shift around it before it embedded itself in a tree trunk with a dull thud.
She gasped, ducking instinctively. “Nali—!”
He moved before she could blink, spinning toward her. His arm hooked around her waist, and in one smooth motion, he lifted her clear off the ground.
Her hands clutched at his shoulders in shock. “What are you—?”
“Quiet,” he said, voice low and hard.
And then he was running.
The world blurred around her, branches whipping past, the forest floor a dark smear beneath his boots. His body was solid beneath her, every stride eating up the distance between them and whatever hunted them. The sound of pursuit grew sharper for a moment, footsteps pounding, another arrow slicing the air but then it began to fade, swallowed by the wind of his speed.
She clung to him, her face pressed against the curve of his neck without meaning to, breath ragged in her throat. His heartbeat was steady. Unshaken. It was wrong, she thought distantly, how safe she felt.
They didn’t stop until the forest thinned and the ground sloped upward, leading to a jagged outcrop of stone. Nali took the incline in three long strides, leaping lightly over a narrow crevice before setting her down on a small, sheltered ledge.
Her legs wobbled as her boots touched stone again. She caught herself against the rock wall, breath coming fast. “They’re still—”
“Gone,” he said, not even winded. He turned, scanning the shadows below them. “They won’t find us here.”
She looked at him, still trying to slow her pulse. “How can you be so sure?”
“Because they’re already bleeding.” His tone was matter-of-fact. “One won’t run again. The other will carry him. The third… will follow later. Alone.”
She stared at him, part of her wanting to ask how he had managed it while carrying her, another part deciding she didn’t want to know.
The ledge was narrow, barely enough space for the two of them to sit side by side. The cliff face behind them was cold and unyielding, the drop in front of them disappeared into darkness. There was nowhere else to go.
Nali stepped closer, close enough that his presence pressed against her like heat against winter air. He reached up, brushing his thumb against her jaw, not gently, exactly, but with precision, as if checking for injury.
“You’re shaking,” he said quietly.
“It’s cold,” she lied.
His eyes narrowed just enough to tell her he didn’t believe her. Then, without asking, he sat and pulled her down beside him. His arm came around her shoulders, drawing her into the line of his body. She stiffened, but he didn’t release her.
“Breathe,” he murmured, voice low in her ear. “In. Out.”
It took a moment to realize he wasn’t just telling her, he was matching her breaths, slowing them deliberately until her heart began to follow. The mark at her collarbone pulsed in rhythm, a strange warmth curling low in her stomach.
She could feel the steady rise and fall of his chest beneath her hands, the shift of muscle when he adjusted his grip. His scent was all around her, metal, smoke, and something faintly wild.
“Better,” he said finally, though he didn’t move his arm away.
She didn’t answer. She wasn’t sure she could. For a long time, they sat like that, the sounds of the night slowly returning around them, so distant rustles, the faint call of an owl. But every time she thought he might release her, his arm only tightened slightly, as if to remind her there was still danger out there. Or maybe just to remind her she was his.
TO BE CONTINUED...
- Writer
